ST.
PAUL, MN – Today Minnesota put a
positive spin on National Equal Pay Day by celebrating 30 years without a pay
gap between women and men in state government jobs.“Equal Pay Day symbolizes how far into 2013
women must work to earn what men earned in 2012,” said Patty Tanji, president
of the Pay Equity Coalition of Minnesota.“Nationally, women now earn 77 cents, on average, for each dollar earned
by men.It’s a little bit better in
Minnesota, where the overall average is 80 cents.But for state employees, we have had 30 years
of women and men receiving equal pay for work of equal value.”

Governor
Mark Dayton today signed a proclamation acknowledging equity in pay rates of
male and female state employees.Presented by Lieutenant Governor Yvonne Prettner Solon, the proclamation
honors the State Employees Pay Equity Act of 1982 requiring equal pay for work of equal value. That law has now been
fully implemented and maintained for 30 years.

“Thirty years ago, the people
of Minnesota showed that equity and equality are not just words; they are
values we live by in this state,” said Prettner Solon. “By passing the first
legislation mandating equal pay for equal work, Minnesota showed the nation
that we were ready to be leaders on pay equity.We have a responsibility to ourselves and our daughters to continue
working for full pay equity in Minnesota which is a critical issue for children
and families across Minnesota.”

Nina Rothchild, former Minnesota
Commissioner of Employee Relations (1983-1990), noted that the law passed the
legislature on a bipartisan basis in 1982, unanimously in the Senate and with
only 13 “no” votes in the House.The
legislation was signed by Republican Governor Al Quie. DFL Governor Rudy Perpich, elected in the fall
of that year, appointed Rothchild with instructions to “make it happen.”No special appropriation or new staff
positions were needed.She noted the
wisdom of then-Senator Linda Berglin, chief author of the law, who was known
for requiring state agencies be held accountable for legislative mandates.Employee relations are now managed by
Minnesota Management and Budget, which is required by the 1982 law to submit an
annual report noting any corrections needed to ensure pay equity
continues.Rothchild also noted the
state law’s success led to passage of the Local Government Pay Equity Act in
1984, which covers 1,500 other government employers – cities, counties, and
school districts – in Minnesota.

Eliot
Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5, acknowledged the law would not have passed
or been implemented without the support of the state’s largest union.“We served on the Council on the Economic
Status of Women Task Force to oversee the analysis.We worked with every AFSCME member across the
state to make sure they understood that this was not something taken away from
the men but rather equalized things for the women.And the equal pay state employees receive to
this day would not have happened without both management and labor working through,
every step of the way, the collective bargaining process.”